Swanky I agree with you 100% and Johntiki thanks for spending more than $40.00. I was begining to wonder if I was the only one on TC spending more than $40.00. I dont need to own every vintage tiki mug ever created but I like to own a few particular ones when they come along.QAnd it is great having them....

$155 was my max bid on a Steve Crane handled Ku - I actually was hoping I was gonna get outbid but I ended up getting it and since it was a mug that I really wanted I figured it was probably money well spent... I've yet to see one at a thrift store for $.50 and it would probably be best not to hold my breath waiting for one! _________________

A new hand painted Gecko Tangaroa, which is one serious piece of artwork IMO, has been the most I've ever spent on a mug. I really love the mugs produced by TC artists. I wish I could afford to buy each and every one produced! Both for my love of the art, and to show my support.

I love both the old and the new, but the new ones tend to be easier to acquire on a whim up here. And I have a lot of whims.

I love the old with a passion, and hunt almost every day for them.

I've only spent up to about $10 on vintage so far(only because I keep loosing e-bay auctions, or I just plain can't afford them!)

I ran into this old topic and was wondering if everyone thinks the 30.00 mark still holds. Most of my collection have been yard sales second hand stores and swap meets 10.00 or less, but I just jumped the shark and paid 85.00 for a Tiki Mag mug on ebay. Must be the meds mixed with a couple of cold ones. I do not feel to bad I just saw a otto's shrunken head mug ( just went on sale at their web site for 20.00) sell for about 70 bucks on ebay.

I checked my statistics on Ooga Mooga, and the most I've ever paid for a mug was $90 for the TC Ohana Hut.

I used to have a $10 limit. I remember imposing this limit on myself because when I first started reading Tiki News, Otto had written a piece on how we could all keep the prices on mugs low by refusing to pay more than $10. It seemed like sound logic at the time. Granted that was back in the days when you could often win an ebay auction with a bid of $9.99. Those were the days...
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It seems like the price of mugs just keep going up. It seems like the event mugs of a couple years ago are less expensive then the event mugs of today by the same companies. Maybe its the gas prices fault.

I used to have a limit for myself but with the rising cost of tiki mugs I've kinda let that slide. I try to hunt them down in vintage/antique stores but the pickings are pretty slim anymore. I think my 1st big purchase that sent me on this slippery slope was the Voodoo mug by Gecko at Hukilau 2005. From there I think the most I've paid is around $150 and I try not to do that very often. It's an awesome feeling when you find one for a couple of bucks though.
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The most I ever paid for one mug was about $120. Currently, I wish I had more money to spend on Gecko's custom Tiki bowls. They are worth every penny.........

At some point, at least for me, collecting turns from a hobby to an art form. Finding, displaying, and caring for these items can be fun, relaxing and educational. In turn I use some of the objects in my drawings and they become a valuable resource. Some day my son will inherit my collection of South Seas Art and that makes me smile.

As I tell my wife, there is always room for one more Tiki no matter what the cost........right?

I just don't get that adrenaline rush from opening up a priority mail box of an $80 mug that I get from seeing one peering at me at a yard sale or thrift store and having the seller (at a yard sale) tell me she saved that from her honeymoon 40 years ago. It's probably me but most of my hobbies have celebrated the bottom feeder and in the last decade tiki mugs have become valuable collectibles, I'm still in shock.

I forget what I paid for my Shecky, but I think it was in the $220 range,, with the Ohana Hut a distant second place. Beyond that I have a few 35-40 dollar Munktiki items, and a whole bunch of cheaper stuff (including about 250 mugs from Dynasty Wholesale).

I think my limit still holds: $26 (for a SHAG, 2nd series, bought new off the shelf at a store in Venice Beach).
That's still my arbitrary limit, vintage or modern. And if it's on eBay, it would have to include the shipping.

I just can't bring myself to pay major bucks for a drinking cup. Mind you, I have manymanymany drinking cups, so I've spent a boatload of money. But every one could be sold on eBay today for twice what I paid - up to 50X what I paid.

If all the beautiful Munktikis, Geckos, Tiki Farms, etc. were $20, I'd probably buy them all!

And if I were to find a Steve Crane bloody head, I'd be whipping out the checkbook for up to $500 - and selling it on eBay. But I'd hope it were cheaper so I could keep it myself

I'll buy other tiki things for more: lamps, furniture, artwork (not to say that many of these mugs, like the Ohana Hut, aren't art). But mugs - I'm a cheapskate. And a teacher. We don't make enough for expensive toys.

The norm: $20 for very special, maybe up to $12 for average. I've paid under a dollah only 3 times in my tiki-buying life (you Californians SUCK!), but I find rare ones for $8.00. So I ain't complainin'.

And you big spenders, enjoy your mugs! They're beautiful things with history. Fear me in the wild, but not on eBay F
_________________"Zazz captivates felt."